Media reported on the Bundestag's probe into Musk's possible influence on the election started in the Bundestag

The Bundestag has initiated an audit in connection with the possible influence of American billionaire and entrepreneur Ilon Musk on the parliamentary elections in Germany. This was reported by German TV channel NTV on January 9.

It drew attention to the fact that Musk plans to hold a public conversation on January 9 in his social network X (former Twitter) with the candidate for Chancellor of Germany from the party "Alternative for Germany" (AdG) Alice Weidel. The Bundestag administration will check whether this is an attempt to interfere in the election campaign or illegal assistance to the party.

Such accusations against Musk were also made by Lobbycontrol, an organization that monitors the transparency of political processes.

"In this respect, we can certainly talk about political advertising here, because Platform X typically sells this kind of coverage for a lot of money," the organization said.

Weidel's spokesperson rejected this, indicating that the content of the conversation has not been agreed upon and it will be an open conversation.

At the same time, Jan Penfrat, an expert on the regulation of online platforms of the European Association for Digital Rights, noted that the planned conversation between Musk and Weidel does not fundamentally violate the European law on digital services. According to Penfrat, it would be worth being wary if Musk, for example, changed the social network's algorithms, making some viewpoints more prominent than others.

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Earlier, on January 6, the head of the Sovfed Commission on Information Policy Alexei Pushkov called the future joint live stream of Musk and Weidel a powerful blow to politicians in Germany. The senator drew attention to the fact that the entrepreneur is becoming the main ideologue of the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump.

On the same day, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the American billionaire supports a "new reactionary international" and directly interferes in the elections in Germany. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed out the French leader's double standards because Paris supported the processes of promoting "color revolutions" and the "Arab Spring" that were conducted in X under its previous owners.

Before that, on December 31, 2024, Musk published a post insulting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. At the same time, the American entrepreneur expressed confidence in the victory of the AdG in future parliamentary elections. The billionaire suggested that the party would win a landslide victory because its approval had reached a record level.

Co-chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) Lars Klingbeil said on December 30 that the influence of X in Europe should be limited because Musk is trying to influence the elections in Germany with the help of publications in this social network and an article in the newspaper Welt am Sonntag.